Attorney for Kings' suspended Slava Voynov: 'There's no crime here'

Lisa DillmanOf The Los Angeles Times (MCT)

An attorney for LA Kings' Slava Voynov said there's not enough evidence to bring criminal charges

LOS ANGELES — Craig Renetzky, the attorney for Slava Voynov, said there was not enough evidence to bring criminal charges against the Los Angeles Kings defenseman, who was arrested Monday morning after an alleged domestic violence incident in Redondo Beach.

Renetzky said he interviewed Voynov and the woman whose injuries brought her to the emergency room using a Russian interpreter.

"Based on what she is telling me, there's no crime here," he said in a telephone interview with the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday morning. "There's certainly not enough to bring criminal charges.

"I think if the police understood what happened, based on what I heard, they wouldn't even have made an arrest."

Renetzky's comments about the case were first reported by the Canadian-based Hockey News.

"We think the action taken by the League was fully justified by the facts and information we had at the time we made the decision" deputy commissioner William L. Daly said in an email to the Times. "But I certainly understand that not everyone might agree with us."

Voynov was arrested and released on $50,000 bail on Monday morning and was suspended by the NHL even before he got out of jail. It is likely the case will be sent to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office, according to Redondo Beach Police Lt. Joe Hoffman.

Renetzky would not specify the injuries the woman suffered but said they resulted from an accident and that Voynov did not strike her. He noted that the "misunderstanding" with police might have occurred because of language issues.

"She was very clear he did not punch her, he did not hit her in that way," Renetzky said. "It sounds like it was more of a misunderstanding between what actually happened, with the police. I don't think they understand what occurred. We're going to try to present some exonerating evidence hopefully in the next few days.

"I'm hoping the league will reconsider their position also, in light of this."